Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1887-03-26
FALLS TRIBUNE.
WASHINGTON LITTER.

WARRINGTON. March II. 1887,

PROM our IeaHtHF tUTftSpoNGtiE
WARRINGTON. March II. 1887.
There was a time. not many years ego,
when the adjournment Of congress was q
signal for Washington to fall into a coma
tose state until the dawn Of the next ses-
ion. It is not so nov. The growth Of the
city and the fact that it has become a graf
Mecca OF travel, visited by thousands every
week in the summer and winter, have
made the presence of congress quite I'M
necessary to the maintenance Of activity.
You may come here now at any season
of the year You prefer and there will be
something for YOU to see or hear or attend,
something 70 interest you, either Of q po-
%litical, scientific, religious, artistic, educa-
at the same time, for Washington, as the
capital Of a great nation, is the centre Of
many national interests. But all this does
not reconcile its citizens to the departure
of the lawmakers. Their absence is al
ways regretted, and their return ioyfulIy
welcomed.
The beauty and desirability Of Wash
ington as 4 place Of residence is rung on
many changes, both BY citizens and yisi-
tors. Hon. Arthur Macarthur, justice of
the supreme cour of the District Of Col
umbia, who had Just laid aside the ermine
expressed himself enthusiastically on the
subject. ''Washington will continue to be
my home,' said he. "ltis the prettiest and
ple~asantest place | know. In fact a resi-
dence of a few years here disqualifies a
man for residence anywhere else" Judge
Macarthur has served IN the district
bench seventeen years, and retlres under
the statute which allows a federal Judge
to resign on full pay for life at the age Of
seventy after he has served ten years He
said he would retire while he knew how.
He did not want to stay until he got so old
that people would say, why don't he re
tire?:"
Washington has been called the most
polite of American cities, the most intelli-
gent, we'll bred, hospitable and gracious,
but it is also understood to be the most
immoral. So much has been said to its
discredit in this last particular that many
people Of the country are of the beliefthat
no good can come out of the National Cap
ital. The character of petitions and mem
orials relative to the district that are laid
before Congress also show the existence
of erroneous impressions 0 this subject.
Again, Washington does not consist Of
congress as in times past, and there is
probably no American city now where
church life is so intensely active as here.
Agencies for reaching and improving the
condition of the working classes, mentally
morally and spiritually, are busy at work
in every quarter of the city. Chapels for
special Purposes are springing up, meet
ings are held for workers of different
kind, homes are being made for friend
less children and fallen women who want
to lead better lives, and careful work is
done in hospitals and asylums.
These are only some Of the forms that
the church work takes, and ell is done
Systematically and thoroughly and with
an earnest zeal that is making itself felt
for great good. It is creating an influence
that will exert untold power on the
thoughts and lives of the people of the fu-
ture capital.
One popularity of Washington life is
the fact that SO many of the society peo-
pie find time to interest themselves active
" in church work, not merely by becom-
ing %patronesses of this and that thing, but
by giving personal attention and labor to
them. 1t is usual to find those whose
names are daily reported as being socially
distinguished, working with the clergy
among the poor, in relief associations, and
in the many forms of charitable work,
making their influence felt for good, and
doing good in a most self denying way.
Congress, the cabinet, army and navy,
bench and bar, can each show a list of the
names of noble men and women who are
Jealous in good works of which the out
side world knows nothing.
a Funeral in Alaska.